"Fracking" disclosure best in nation?

By: Spencer Hunt

The Columbus Dispatch - March 28, 2012 01:55 PM

A plan that would make oil and
gas companies name the chemicals used to "frack" Utica shale wells would be the toughest in the
nation,
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
officials said today, though it would let some compounds remain secret.

Full disclosure of chemicals used in fracking has been a hot topic and not only in Ohio. A
disclosure plan contained in an
energy policy
bill that got its first hearing in the Legislature this morning is toughest, agency director
James Zehringer said, because it would require oil and gas companies to report every chemical used
in a well, not only when it's fracked, but from the moment drilling begins to a time years later
when the well is spent and plugged.

The bill would allow companies to keep specific chemicals deemed proprietary or trade secrets
confidential, requiring only a general description of its chemical class. There can be hundreds, if
not thousands, of specific chemicals in a class.

In cases of emergencies, firefighters and doctors would be able to demand specific info on all
chemicals, including the proprietary ones.

Environmental advocates said today that the public won't be able to know everything that's being
injected underground to fracture shale and free trapped oil and gas. "'Colonel Sanders' secret
recipe is still a concern to us," said Jack Shaner, lobbyist with the
Ohio Environmental Council.

For more information on the fracking chemicals and the bill,
click here.